PLEDGE CASE VICTORY

Catalyst July/August Issue 2004, Front Page

Last year, the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights filed a joint friend-of-the-court brief with the Thomas More Law Center supporting the right of public school students to recite the Pledge of Allegiance. The June 14 ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court, though made on grounds that the plaintiff lacked standing, upholds the constitutionality of the Pledge.

It is too bad that the substantive issue of whether recitations of the Pledge in school are legal wasn’t addressed. But it was understandable that the high court would scrutinize the right of Michael Newdow, the devout atheist who brought the case, to speak for his non-custodial daughter.

It is regrettable that this issue wasn’t put to bed once and for all. And that is because there is a concerted effort in this country, led by organizations that are openly hostile to religion, to eliminate all public vestiges of our religious heritage. This movement, which is at root totalitarian, seeks to impose a radical secular agenda on all Americans. It must be stopped dead in its tracks if religious liberty is to survive.

Even if the win wasn’t exactly what we wanted, it is important to remember that we didn’t lose—the other side did. Here’s what we told the press the day the decision was reached: “This is not a good day for the radical secularists. Which is why it is such a good day for everyone else.”